My Last Life
by DontStopBelieving4
Summary: After Wanda wakes up in her new body, she has to live in the caves with the rest of the refugees.
1. Chapter 1

**My Last Life**

**Chapter 1**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Host or any of it's characters.**

When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was him. Just like every morning since I woke up in this body, I saw Ian. He was looking at me with the same loving look that he always did, but something was different.

"What," I asked.

"Oh," he started, "I was just looking at you. Is there something wrong with that?" He leaned down and kissed my forehead.

"No, you just looked different for some reason."

His lips moved from my forehead to my lips. He kissed me gently. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer. He felt so much bigger than me in this body. He rolled on top of me and slipped his tongue in my mouth. His hand slid up the back of my shirt and unsnapped my bra. I moved my hand down to his chest, then to the hem of his shirt and took it off. Suddenly, I was overcome by the feeling that this wasn't normal. This didn't usually happen in the morning. I put my hands on his chest and pushed him just a few inches from my face.

"Ok," I began, "tell me what's going on."

"What? I can't kiss you?"

"Well, of course, but I can't shake this feeling that something is bothering you. Seriously, Ian. Tell me what's going on."

"Fine. I was just watching you sleep and was thinking about how lucky I was to find you. How lucky I was that Melanie was so strong and brought you here. I can't imagine my life without you. This is so impossible, but you are the person, soul, that I want to spend the rest of my life with and I want to make it official. Now I know weddings are sort of out of date, but I want to have one with you. Jeb can officiate…"

"Ian, what are you saying?"

"I want to marry you Wanda. I want you to be my wife and spend the rest of my life with you. I want you to be the mother of my child and teach him about the universe. I want to be a family and I want you to be my family."

He reached to my face to wipe away the tears I hadn't realized were falling. I was at a loss for words and couldn't speak. All I could do was kiss him. When he pulled away and I opened my eyes, he was smiling. His eyes were burning. I could feel my knees quiver.

"Of course I will marry you!"

We made love for the first time. I had been so scared until now. I still wasn't used to the physical drives the human body possesses. I had never been able to push myself past kissing, but now, it felt right. Like there was no one in the world I would rather be with. Like we were the only people in the world.

We were lying in bed and Ian was fast asleep. I couldn't help but stare at this face that I loved so much I would die for it and he for mine. I felt the steady rise and fall of his chest with each breath he took and in that moment I could not have been more grateful to my family for finding a way to keep me here, to keep me with Ian.

Ian suddenly started awake and smiled at me. "Hey, baby." He kissed my forehead, then both my cheeks, then my lips and finally my neck.

"Are we really doing this," I asked, wanting to make sure this was all real.

"I certainly hope so," he answered.

"What do you think people will say?"

"I don't know. They might think it's a bit weird because marriage doesn't really hold any weight anymore. However, I don't really care. I just know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you and I want you to experience a wedding."

"How am I going to tell Melanie?"

"Well, I told Jared I was going to ask you, but I told him not to tell her because I knew you would want to."

"I should probably go talk to her." I kissed him one last time, got up from the mattress and put some clothes on. I left Ian sleeping to talk to my best friend. I walked the short distance from our cave to Melanie and Jared's. I shook the curtain that closed off their cave from the hall.

"Hello?" I heard Jared shuffle around and get up from the bed. He opened the curtain and poked his head through, looking like he had just woken up.

"Oh, hey, Wanda," he said.

"Hey, Jared. Is Melanie up? I need to talk to her."

He gave me a look like he knew what I was going to tell her, "Yeah, come on in."

I saw Melanie sitting on the bed in her pajamas. I suddenly became very nervous. I had no idea what she was going to say. Would she be mad? Would she think I was crazy? It all came out in a rush and when I was done I collapsed onto the bed waiting for her response, analyzing her face. Jared was standing in the doorway, just in case Melanie lost it, I assumed.

After what seemed like forever, she said something.

"What are you looking to get from marriage," she finally asked.

"Nothing," I began, "I just know that I want to spend the rest of my last life with him and he does too. He wants me to experience a wedding and he feels this would be good for us."

"Is it what you want though?"

"Yes. It really is. I just had the best morning of my life. I have never been so happy in all my lives."

A few minutes passed in silence. Then Melanie reached over and hugged me. I was surprised, to say the least. I didn't think that she would take so little convincing, but then I looked to Jared and saw him wink at me. I looked back at Melanie and she was crying.

"I have something to tell you too," she confessed. I looked at her, puzzled and worried at the same time. "I went to Doc the other day because I was feeling sick and he had me take this test."

I became so worried then that I couldn't help but start crying. I had no idea what she was going to say next. It could have been the worst possible outcome and I couldn't handle it if she was sick. She was one of the main reasons for my existence on this planet. I couldn't loose her.

"I'm pregnant."

It was my turn to be silent. I just sat there, staring at her with a blank expression. I didn't know how to feel about this news because I didn't know how Melanie and Jared felt about it. I couldn't think of anything to do so I got up and walked back to my room. I grabbed Ian's arm without explanation and dragged him to Melanie and Jared's room. I looked back and saw Ian's puzzled face waiting for an explanation.

We entered the room and simply said, "Tell him."

Melanie looked at me with a hurt expression and Jared stepped in front of her.

"Melanie is pregnant," he told Ian. He looked even more surprised than I was, but then he saw Jared smile and they engaged in jovial high fives and celebrating. I knew then that this child was going to be a blessing and not a curse. I went back over to the bed and wrapped my arms around Melanie. We sat there hugging and crying for a long time.

"So, I guess we all have something to celebrate," Ian began, "Should we go tell Jamie?"

Jamie sat with the same expression we all had when we heard the news. After a few minutes, I debated leaving him to think over everything he had just learned. Then I saw the corners of his mouth turn up into a smile.

**A/N: Hi everyone! Thanks for reading! This is my first fanfic so I would love some feedback. Please review and I'll try to keep the story going.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Host or any of it's characters.**

Melanie was having horrible morning sickness. I decided to take her for a walk outside the caves to get her some fresh air. We went without telling Jeb, against Jared and Ian's advice, but I wasn't too worried about it. I was more worried about Melanie. She was twelve weeks along, if she and Jared had calculated it correctly.

"So tell me how this happened," I asked her once we were outside the caves.

"What do you want to know," she asked.

"I want to know how you changed your mind about having a child in this world."

"To be honest, I hadn't changed my mind. Jared had always been very against having children from the beginning. We had been taking measures to prevent having a child. He was getting birth control when he was out on raids, but one night, twelve weeks ago, he was about to leave on another raid and I wasn't going to see him for a while so we just did it, even though we were out.

"So when he got back, I wasn't doing too well and he got really worried and made me go to Doc. He went with me, but he wasn't there when Doc told me I was pregnant. I was so scared. I didn't know what to do. As far as I knew Jared's feelings about having children hadn't changed.

"That night, we were lying in bed and I told him I needed to tell him something. I told him that I loved him more than anything and that was never going to change. Then I told him he was going to have a son or daughter. I was ready for him to just walk out. I was ready for him to leave me. I wasn't expecting him to want this child, but he surprised me as always and hugged me. I could feel his tears on my shoulder. I couldn't tell if they were happy or sad until he pulled away and kissed me. He kissed every inch of my face and was laughing and crying. He said that this didn't change anything and that if this were ten years ago, this is where we would be headed anyway. He told me he loved me and that after everything we've been through, this was the best thing since I opened my eyes as me again."

I was so happy for Jared and Melanie. I couldn't believe that in the two years I had lived in the caves, Jared had changed his mind about having a family. It was understood from the beginning that he didn't want to bring a child into this world. Something changed, though and it wasn't me coming to the caves or the fact that the souls had pretty much given up trying to find humans. It was the fact that he knew, no matter what, he was not going to loose Melanie again.

We returned to the caves just before sunset and I noticed that the Jeep was back, but we couldn't find Jared and Ian. Our minds immediately thought the worst. We ran to Doc's place and I saw a relieved look spread across Melanie's face. I would have been relieved too if I hadn't seen Ian lying on a gurney with his eyes closed.

Jared was standing over him and I saw the bruises on his arm and the line of blood shining through his shirt. I kneeled down close to his face to try and talk to him and was suddenly lifted away from him. Jared carried me away from Ian and to the main corridor. I was thrashing at him and screaming Ian's name. Finally he put me down and tried to calm me.

"Shhhhh," he said trying to soothe me, "It's going to be okay. He's going to be fine. We have the soul's medicine. We just have to let Doc work on him." He had his arms wrapped around me and was stroking my hair trying to muffle the sound of my constant sobs.

"Then…why…did you…take me…away…from…him," I asked in gasps.

"Because it needs to be calm in there and you're too emotional right now. Once you calm down, I'll take you back." I felt Melanie touch my hand. I didn't realize she had been following us.

"What happened," she asked.

"We got into a car accident," he began to explain, "I was driving and we lost traction in the sand and I rolled the car. I was able to open my door and get out, but Ian was unconscious in the passenger seat. We were only a couple miles out from the caves so I put him in Kyle's car and he sped back to the caves."

"How long has he been unconscious?"

"Well he started to wake up right before we got back, but fell back into it. I would say its been about twenty minutes since everything happened." Jared was still holding me and I was able to catch my breath. Melanie was rubbing my back trying to get the last sobs from my throat.

I pulled away from Jared and said, "Okay, I fine now. Can I please go see him. He needs me. He didn't leave my side for weeks when I was hurt and I need to be there for him."

Jared said nothing as he took my hand and Melanie took the other and led me back to the makeshift hospital. Jamie was sitting in a corner looking just as worried as I was. He came up to us and wrapped his arms around my shoulders, Melanie and Jared still clasping my hands. Just then I realized that Jamie had been on that raid as well. I looked at Jared with a worried look and he read my expression perfectly.

"Don't worry," he began, "Jamie was in Kyle's car."

"I saw it happen though," Jamie was telling the story I didn't really want to hear, "I wanted to jump out and help, but Kyle wouldn't let me. He said you and Melanie would kill him if anything happened to me and that they would be fine. I was so scared. I didn't know if they were okay, but then I saw Jared get out of the car. He walked around to the other side and pulled Ian out and put him in the back seat of our car. I was in charge of making sure he was still breathing and trying to wake him up. I wanted him to be okay for you, Wanda."

I started crying again, but not uncontrollably. I led all three of them towards the gurney so I could talk to Doc.

"How's he doing, Doc," I asked, trying to be positive.

"Well, he looks pretty banged up right now, but we should be able to fix him up and he'll be good as new."

Melanie and Jared let go of my hands and I reached for Ian's. Doc went to work on him while I stood there watching and waiting. After he was done, I still didn't move. I kept thinking Ian would wake up, but he didn't. Even though he looked absolutely perfect on the outside, despite the blood and dirt all over his clothes, the medicine was taking it's time healing him on the inside. I was starting to get worried when Jared wheeled a cot to the side of Ian's gurney.

"I figured you probably wouldn't be leaving for a while, so you might as well have something to lay on," he told me. He wheeled the cot right up next to the gurney and started to leave.

Before he could leave the room I said, "Jared, will you do me a favor?" He nodded and I added, "Can you grab me some clean clothes for him? I want him to be nice and clean when he wakes up." He nodded once more and left the room. When he left, he took Melanie and Jamie with him, leaving just me, Doc and Ian in the room. I hopped up onto the cot and got as close to Ian as I could. I curled up next to his body and he felt the same way he had the morning he asked me to marry him. I moved his arm to wrap it around me, never letting go of his hand. I laid there for a long time before I fell asleep. I wanted to be awake when he woke up, but I just couldn't keep my eyes open.

When I woke up, Ian still wasn't awake. I was beginning to really worry that he wouldn't wake up. Doc wasn't there and the sky through the ceiling was still black. Jared had brought me clothes, so I decided I would change his clothes. I removed his shirt and started to cry. I couldn't handle the thought of those arms never holding me again, that stomach never warming me again and those hands never brushing the hair out of my face again. I struggled to get the shirt over his broad shoulders and then put the clean pants on him. I left his shoes off so he didn't feel constricted when he woke.

I laid on the cot next to Ian for three days. After the third day, I was really beginning to worry that he wasn't going to wake up. I had a steady stream of tears running down my face. Melanie, Jared and Jamie took turns sitting with me and making sure I was okay.

"What is the first thing you're going to do when he wakes up," Melanie asked on the third day.

I had to try and come up with the words. "I'll probably kiss him. Then have him hold me for hours and hours, make sure he really is okay and never let him out of my sight." She gave me a look, like she knew there was some double meaning to what I was saying. She and Jared had never been shy with me about their personal lives, partly because I was inside her head, but I wasn't as open with her for some reason. She continued to stare at me, knowing there was something I hadn't told her. I finally came out and said it.

"Okay, fine," I began, "We made love the morning he asked me to marry him."

"Little Wanda finally gave it up," she teased. I rolled my eyes, knowing she was just making fun.

"Well we only did it that one time, but I don't want it to be the last time." I started crying again with my head on Melanie's shoulder and Ian's hand in both of mine. "I want to have a family with him and I want to spend the rest of my life with him. I want to watch him grow old and when he leaves this planet I want to die my final death. I'm not ready to loose him. I wouldn't be able to handle it. He's the reason I'm here. He wouldn't let me go and I can't let him go."

**A/N: Thank you so much for reading! Please review! I really value your opinion. Also I'm a few chapters ahead, but if you have any suggestions I would love to hear them! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Host or any of its characters.**

I felt a hand cover my own, but it wasn't Melanie's. I felt the large, warm hand squeeze mine and lost my breath. He turned me to face him and I couldn't control my sobs. He wrapped his arms around me and held tight. He was crying too and we sat there for a long while. I forgot Melanie was still there and when I remembered, I pulled away from Ian.

"Mel, can you go get Doc and Jared," I asked, trying to get a moment alone with Ian.

"Yeah, sure," she said, catching my subtle hint.

As soon as she left the room, I pulled Ian's face up to meet mine. My lips reached his and I felt fire between them. It had been so long since I felt this close to him and I felt my tears fall down my face and could taste his tears. His hand drifted up and down my arm leaving a trail of fire. When we finally pulled apart, he was able to get a word in.

"I'm so sorry," he said finally.

"You're sorry," I replied, "What do you have to be sorry for? I was so worried. I wasn't ready for you to leave me." His hand had moved from my arm to my knee and I could feel the warmth of his body.

"Hey, I am never going to leave you. That is one thing you will never have to worry about."

He kissed me again, moving his mouth with mine and pushing against my tongue with his. I wanted to stay like this forever.

"Okay, okay," we heard Jared say, "that's enough of that."

"Hey, man," Ian said, "So the last thing I remember is you pulling me out of the car. I guess I owe you some gratitude."

Jared brushed it off as if it were nothing. I could tell he was happy Ian was awake. They had become closer since I had been in this body. No longer fighting over the same body, but different girls. They had each other's backs in and outside the caves. Neither of them would admit it, but they loved each other like brothers.

"You gave us quite the scare there, Ian," Melanie said, "This one over here hasn't left the room in four days."

We all sat in a circle as Ian and Jared told stories of their raid. Melanie and I loved hearing about the raids we didn't go on. I had a feeling she wouldn't be going on one for a while and as long as she wasn't feeling well, I would stay here with her. Jared was in a constant state of worry with Melanie still in the morning sickness portion of her pregnancy. She was just barely starting to show under her normally baggy clothes. I looked over at Melanie and Jared and saw her hand on her belly, with Jared's hand covering it. Suddenly, Melanie started.

"Whoa," she exclaimed.

"What's wrong," I asked her.

"I felt him! I felt him kick!"

"I felt him too," Jared confirmed. I could see the tears welling in both of their eyes. Until now, their pregnancy was just the result of a test. The baby kicking their hands confirmed that there really was a child growing inside of Melanie and that they really were going to be parents.

Ian leaned over to whisper in my ear. "Do you think we could have that one day?"

"I think we already have it."

"I mean a family. I want you to be the mother of my child someday. We know it works, so I don't see why we shouldn't do it."

I thought back to my conversation with Melanie just a few short hours ago. "I would want nothing more than to have your child Ian O'Shea." He pulled me closer to him and kissed my forehead.

He whispered so only I could barely hear, his voice flirtatious. "Then, I guess we better get started."

Ian came back to our cave that night, even though I thought he shouldn't move. Jared and Jamie helped him to the room, making sure he got there without any problems. Jeb had given me a few days off from chores so I could stay by Ian's side, but now that he was awake, I had chores to do. I went to the kitchen and did the dishes from dinner and saved two plates of food for myself and Ian.

I was finishing up the dishes when I heard someone come into the room. "You really love him, don't you?"

I turned around and saw Sharon. It had been almost a year since I gave Melanie her body back, but Sharon still hadn't warmed up to the idea of me. She still looked away when I smiled at her or tried to greet her. "Yes, I really do."

"How can you," she asked, "He's not even your species. How is it possible for you to love someone that you have nothing in common with?"

"That's where you're wrong. I have more in common with Ian than I do with anyone of my own species. He is the one creature that I would follow after this life. After living eight lives I finally found someone that I loves and someone who loves me just as much, if not more."

She looked at me, puzzled, trying to understand our interspecies romance. After a few moments of silence she said, "I still don't understand how you can be so different than all the other souls and live here with us, but I've seen enough to understand that your love for all of us here is real."

She turned, not wanting a response, and left the room. In my time here, almost two years, she was the only human to not fully accept my presence in the caves. With her acceptance, I finally felt like I belonged here.

I finished the dishes and brought the food back to our cave. Ian was lying on the mattress reading his favorite book. I set the food next to him and sat on the other side of the bed eating my food, watching him read. His face was concentrated on the story being told. When he was immersed in a story, there was no interrupting until he was ready to come back to our world.

Finally, he set the book down and picked up the food. He hadn't realized how hungry he was and I gave him the rest of my food. I watched him eat, reliving the worry I had felt for the past few days. He noticed my worried expression and stopped eating.

"You know," he began, "you don't have to worry about me anymore. I'm going to be fine."

"But I'm going to worry," I responded.

"You don't have to though. It was an accident. It could have happened to anybody and I'm fine now."

"You have no idea what I've been through the past few days, Ian. I was so worried you weren't going to wake up, that for some reason, the medicine wasn't working. I sat by your bed, crying, for three days wishing you could hold me again. Wishing you could tell me everything was going to be okay."

I started crying again and he pulled me close to him. I used his chest as a tissue and cried until I couldn't cry anymore.

"Shhh, shhh, it's going to be okay. I'll make sure that I'm the one doing the worrying from now on."

I couldn't respond. I just let him hold me and listened to his voice. I wanted to memorize how this moment felt. How he felt against me and how his voice sounded. I wanted to live in this moment and never let him go.

He squeezed me tighter as he placed his lips on my forehead. "I'm not going anywhere and that's a promise."

"Don't promise anything. You don't know how long we might have."

"What gave you that impression?"

"Oh, it's just a leftover memory from when I was in Melanie's body. She told Jared that they didn't know how much time they had when he was hesitant to begin a relationship with her."

"Well that was when they were constantly running. They didn't have a plan, but now look at them. They're about to have a baby. Who ever thought that was going to happen? We are all in such a better situation now than we were a year ago. We haven't had a seeker encounter in over six months and the community is completely stable. We have all the time in the world."

I just nodded and leaned into him. His hand drifted to mine and he entangled his fingers in mine. The hand engulfed mine. It was so big compared to my almost child like one. He brought my baby hand to his lips and kissed it. I could feel the warmth from his breath and trembled. I was snapped out of it when he spoke.

"So, do you still remember all of her memories," he asked.

I was surprised by this question, but answered his question like I did with all of them. "Um, I get bits and pieces. I remember all of my memories in her body, like the ones with you, but all of the ones from her life before me come in waves. I mostly remember the significant events."

"So, what would have happened if you couldn't remember your own memories. What if you woke up in this body and couldn't remember me and how you felt about me?"

"That wouldn't happen. I always remember everything about my previous life. Even if I didn't, I could never forget you. I love you too much. You changed my life. My name is Wanderer, but you made me stop wandering."

He seemed satisfied with this answer because he squeezed me closer to him again and turned my face to meet his. He kissed me gently then said, "I love you, my Wanderer."

He kissed me again with more force this time and wouldn't pull away for a long time, though I didn't want him to. We laid down on the mattress and I rolled on top of him. His hands were all over me and I could feel fire rising in my blood. I was overcome with emotion, like I never was when I was in Melanie's body. This body was able to love Ian the way I did.

He rolled me over and my legs wrapped around his waist. My hands were in his hair and I felt a lump on his head. Was that there before? I couldn't remember, but I didn't care. I was completely immersed in the heat that was engulfing us. Just as I was about to take his shirt off, he pulled away and pulled it off himself. I put my hands on his hard stomach and pulled him back down. I opened my eyes and saw the faint pink scar under his eye. Suddenly, I remembered that he had been in the hospital just this morning and pushed him off me.

"What's wrong," he gasped.

"Ian, you were unconscious twelve hours ago," I told him.

"But I'm fine now."

"But you need to rest now. You were in a car accident and in a coma fore three days."

"So, I can't kiss you until I rest?"

"No, you can kiss me, but anything more, I'm making you wait a week."

"Okay," he said kissing me on the forehead, "I can live with that." He rolled off of me and pulled me into his side. We lay there for a while. He fell asleep before I did, I knew he had to be tired and he needed his rest. I watched him as he slept. His angular face fell soft and I could feel him breathing against me. With the steady rise and fall of his chest, I felt myself drifting away, but I didn't want this day to end. I made one more mental picture of Ian sleeping and let myself fall into a deep sleep.

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Loved it? Hated it? Let me know! Will update within the next few days!**


	4. Chapter 4

**So my professor didn't show up for class today so that's how my Friday is going! I hope you all have an awesome weekend and enjoy this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Host or any of it's characters.**

I awoke with the feeling that something was wrong. The bed was empty next to me and I started to panic. I looked frantically around the small room and landed on him in the corner holding his guitar. I sighed in relief. I wrapped the blanket around me and walked over to him. I knelt down beside him and brushed his cheek with my fingers. I let my hand linger on his shoulder. His face was troubled and I realized that I hadn't seen him pick up the guitar, much less play it, ever.

"Ian, honey," I said in a soft whisper.

"I haven't played this guitar since Kyle and I started running," he explained.

"Why?"

"Because it brought me joy and I didn't feel like I deserved to be happy while the planet and it's people were suffering, but, today, something feels different."

He strummed a few chords making a beautiful sound I had never heard before. Music isn't a big part of the souls' lives on this planet, but hearing these few simple chords made me want to hear more.

"Will you play for me?"

With that he closed his eyes and began playing a song. It sounded familiar and I realized it was because it was one of Melanie's favorite songs. I didn't have to hear the words to know what the song was about, the hope of a beautiful day and what it can bring you. My eyes closed as I listened to the melody, absorbing the music Ian was making. I was amazed and impressed at the same time. How had I not known this about him? The guitar sat in a corner in our room. How had I not asked him about it? He asks so many questions about me and it amazed me that I didn't know this small fact about the man I would spend the rest of my life with.

When the song was over, I reached up to pull him down and kissed him softly. "You never cease to amaze me Ian O'Shea."

He took a deep breath, breathing me in. He kissed me again. "How would you feel about getting married today?"

I remained silent and he added, "I just want to be your husband right here, right now. I don't care who does it as long as I can call you my wife."

I kissed him once more, lingering before I said, "Of course."

He jumped up from his seated position with ease and pulled me along with him. We rushed to find Jared and Melanie. We found them in their bed still sleeping. Jared had one arm around Melanie and the other hand on her belly. They looked so peaceful that I didn't want to wake him, but Ian was too excited to slow down now. He jumped on the bed waking them.

"What the hell are you doing, Ian," Jared said groggily.

"Get up! Let's go! We're getting married today and you're the best man," he exclaimed.

"Ian, why don't you and Jared go find Jeb and Jamie and get everything ready," I suggested.

Ian got up and grabbed Jared's arm. Jared kissed Mel on the forehead before being pulled from the room. I sat on the side of the bed Jared just left.

"Sorry about that," I told her, "He's just really excited. I think this whole near death experience has made him think a lot. He played the guitar for me this morning."

"Wow," she said surprised, "Jared told me he hasn't been able to pick up a guitar in years."

"I know, he told me, but then he started playing and it was beautiful."

"Well that's great. Maybe things are going to be normal for you two."

"Well maybe normal adjacent," we both laughed. There was no way anything could be normal, but maybe we could have a happy life down here in this cave with our little family. "So how are you doing, Mel?"

She touched her growing stomach. "I'm feeling better, but this baby is taking a lot out of me. It's getting harder to do the things I usually do. It's not that I'm getting weak, but I'm just tired all the time. Jared had to carry me here from dinner last night, not that I ever complain when he carries me."

"I'm so happy for you, Mel. You have no idea how amazing you two are. I love you guys."

"We love you, too, Wanda." Suddenly, she took my hand and put it against her stomach. "Whoa, feel this."

I waited a second and then I felt it. The baby was kicking. It was a miracle and I was feeling it. "Oh my God! That's amazing!"

"So, should we get ready for this wedding?"

We got up and looked in her closet to find me some sort of dress or skirt, something to look nice on this special day. After we were dressed, she did my hair up in an intricate braid her mother had taught her when she was little. Just as she finished the last braid, Ian and Jared returned.

"Okay, we're ready," Jared said linking Melanie's arm in his.

"Oh, wait," I said, "who is going to give me away?"

"I am," Jamie came through the door with a bouquet of flowers for me. I wrapped my arms around him and a tear spilled from my eyes.

Ian led the way as we walked out to the main plaza. Jared and Melanie walked before Jamie and I. The plaza was completely full with all thirty-six people who lived in the cave, formed into two sections. Jeb was standing at the end of the aisle with a bible in his hands. Music started playing from an old record player I didn't know existed. Ian met Jeb at the end of the aisle and was followed by Jared and Melanie. At the end of the aisle, they parted ways to stand on opposite sides. Then everyone stood and turned to watch me and Jamie. I couldn't help but smile as I saw everyone smile at me. Maybe it was the fact that no one had been to a wedding in years or maybe they truly were happy for me.

We reached the end of the aisle, Jamie kissed me on the cheek and gave my hand to Ian and the ceremony began. Jeb read a passage from the Bible and then handed it over to Ian and me.

"I believe you two would rather tell each other how you feel than repeat after me," he said.

Ian went first, "Wanda, my wanderer, when you first came to us, I was afraid of you. I didn't want to believe someone like you could be good, but then I got to know you. I realized that you are the purest soul in any universe and I fell in love with you. The worst day of my life was the day you told me you were leaving and I fought, along with our friends, to get you back here somehow. I couldn't live without you. You are always trying to please people and that's all you've done for me. You have made me the happiest human on the planet. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you and I love you."

I couldn't hide the endless stream of tears running down my face as I said, "Ian O'Shea. I have lived eight different lives on eight different planets and I never found a person who could make me settle or follow them wherever they go. You made me settle. Earth is my home because of you and when you die there will be no other life for me. Life without you is meaningless. You are the greatest and most loving person I have ever met, human or soul. I love you."

"Alright, now do you Wanda take Ian to be your wedded husband until death do you part," Jeb asked.

"I do," I responded through my tears.

Before Jeb could ask the same question to Ian, he interrupted, "Actually, I have something for you." He pulled a ring out of his pocket. Nothing fancy, no gems, just a gold band, but it was the most beautiful ring I had ever seen because it came from him. "I found this in a house we raided and thought you would like it." He placed the ring on my finger and gave Jeb a nod to continue.

"And do you Ian take Wanda to be your wife until death do you part," Jeb asked once more.

"I do, today tomorrow and forever," Ian said.

"Then by the power vested in me by, no one really, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Ian pulled me into him as he kissed me gently. For a moment, I forgot everyone was watching us until I heard the cheers coming from the crowd. We turned and walked hand in hand back up the aisle. We were led to the kitchen where a feast was spread out for us: food from the recent raid, Cheetos (my favorite) and a cake with chocolate frosting. We sat at a table with Jamie, Jared and Melanie. After we ate, Ian and Jared stepped away for a moment and I could hear their conversation.

"How's Mel doing," I heard Ian ask.

"She's doing better, but the baby is taking all of her energy. I carry her when people can't see because she just doesn't have the energy for it," Jared explained.

"Has she been to see Doc?"

"Yes, but he can't do anything about it. He just tells her to rest, but you know Mel, she's never rested a day in her life."

"Alright, well if you need anything, we're here for you and thanks for helping me do this today. It was really amazing."

"No problem." And they were back in the mix of things. I started to get tired when I saw Melanie yawn. I motioned to Jared to take her home and he did, carrying her away once they were out of sight. Ian saw the tired expression on my face and did the same. He said it was tradition to carry a bride across the threshold, so I gave in. I really was too tired to walk.

Ian was sitting on the bed with the guitar in his hand plucking random chords. I alternated between staring at him and staring at my ring. He looked over at me, smiled and started playing a song. I walked over to him, sat next to him and rested my head on his shoulder.

"What song is this," I asked.

"I wrote it when I was sixteen," he began, "It's about my sister who got pregnant. Her boyfriend walked away and I was there through the whole pregnancy, even in the room when she had the baby. It was a girl, and she was beautiful. Her name was Kora. I saw my sister cry when she saw her for the first time. They were cleaning her up when she stopped breathing. She was rushed into the NICU, but by the time they got there, there was nothing they could do. She died only half an hour after she was born. My sister couldn't look at her so I had to go in. I held her in my arms and watched her die.

"It really messed up my sister, so I wrote her this song to try and make her feel better. The seekers took her a couple of years ago, before we found the caves."

I could feel the tears from his eyes hitting the top of my head. I learned so much about Ian that day and I loved him so much more than I did the day before. I wrapped my arms around him and let him cry for a while. He kept telling me how much he loved me and how he would never let me go. I now understood why he was so worried about Melanie. He didn't want to see it happen to Jared and Mel. They had already been through so much, they might not be able to take it.

"I love you, Ian," I said, trying to calm him down.

He pushed me away so we were face to face. He brushed the hair away from my eyes and kissed me softly on the lips. He scooped me off the floor and carried me to the bed. He set me down on the mattress and lay down next to me.

"I love you so much, Wanda," he said, "I don't know what I would do without you."

I sighed, wanting nothing more than to be close to him. He kissed me and didn't stop and I didn't make him. He took my dress off and I took his shirt off. I was thinking about how much I loved him and how thankful I was that he gave me this chance. He brought me back to this planet, against my wishes, and gave me the life I wanted, the life I needed. He gave me the chance to be human. I had never felt as human as I did in that moment, in that room, in that bed with Ian. He was the man I was going to spend my last and final life with and would never let him go.

We lay there entangled with each other. I could feel every inch of warmth coming off of his body. He was sweating and so was I. Our breaths fell into sync as we drifted off to sleep.

**Thanks again for reading! It really means a lot to me that you take the time to read something I've written. So until next time!**


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm feeling generous today, so here's another chapter! Hope you enjoy it!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Host or any of it's characters.**

We were in the kitchen, the only place Jared would let Melanie work, with Jamie washing dishes. Dinner had just ended and everyone had already left. Ian and Jared stayed at the table, not wanting to leave Melanie with only me if something went wrong. In the past few weeks, I began to notice how protective Ian was being over Melanie. It made me so happy that we all cared for each other so much.

Jared and Ian were planning out their next raid. I was against Ian going because of his injuries he was still recovering from. Melanie convinced me that with both of us not going, it was essential for him to go.

"Mel, are you okay," I asked. She was looking pale and moving sluggishly.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said trying to convince me. Suddenly, I heard a crash and saw Melanie fall to the ground. Jared was able to catch her head before it hit the hard stone floor. She was unconscious as he scooped her off the floor and rushed her to the hospital. Ian and I ran right behind him. I started to fall behind so Ian threw me over his shoulder and continued running.

"Doc, Mel, passed out," Jared yelled as he put Melanie on a table. Doc rushed over and started checking her vital signs.

"Vitals are good," Doc mumbled, "I'm going to try to wake her up with Awake." He opened her mouth and sprayed the mist into her mouth. He put his stethoscope up to her belly to try and find he baby's heartbeat.

"The baby seems to be fine. We'll just wait for her to wake up and see what's going on."

I had one of Melanie's hands in mine, Jared had the other. Ian came over and covered my hand with his. We heard someone enter the room and saw Jamie.

"What's going on," he asked as he came over to the table, putting his hand on Melanie's leg.

"She fainted," Jared began, "she should be okay. We're just waiting for her to wake up." She awoke with a gasp. Jared tried to keep her down as she tried to work out what happened. "Mel, Mel. You're okay. Everything is going to be okay."

Jared wrapped his arms around her as she tried to get the question she was so afraid to ask out. "Is the baby okay?"

"Everything should be fine, Mel," Doc said trying to keep her calm, "I just want you to take it easy. You're not going to have the energy to do a lot of things, so I want you on semi-bed rest. You can move around, only if you don't exert yourself too much. The only chore I want you doing is the dishes. No working in the fields and if you need to go far in the caves make sure someone goes with you, preferably Jared or Ian. Do you understand me, Mel?"

"Yes, Doc. If I do this, will the baby be okay?"

"If you take it easy and rest, there is no reason to suspect this won't be a perfectly healthy baby. We just don't have the technology down here to really take care of you, so we're going to have to do this the old fashioned way. You're going to be completely fine. I've delivered plenty of babies down here, but I want you to take care of yourself. Make sure you're eating enough and drinking enough water."

"Okay, Doc. I understand."

"So, is she okay to go home," Jared asked.

"Yes, just don't let her walk. Carry her."

Jared swept Melanie off the table and started down the long corridor toward their room. Ian and I walked hand in hand just behind them. We returned to the cave and Jared set Melanie down on the mattress.

"Do you need anything," I asked.

"No, I'm fine. I just need to rest," she replied.

Ian and I glanced at each other and understood that we were going to sleep here tonight. Ian slid down the wall and pulled me onto his lap. Jared nodded to us, knowing we wouldn't leave even if he asked us to. He laid down on the mattress next to Melanie, already dozing off. I watched them sleep and noticed Jamie come into the room. He went over to the bed and sat on the edge. He smiled at me and I knew he wasn't leaving either.

I looked around this small room, with five people crammed into it and couldn't help but tear up at the sight of our little family. Ian, Jared, Melanie, Jamie, they were all my family and that would never change. I would do anything for them because I loved them so much. They made me human.

When I awoke the next morning, I was laying on the floor with my head in Ian's lap. Jamie was holding Melanie's hand on the edge of the bed and Jared and Melanie were wrapped around each other, still fast asleep. I sat up and kissed Ian, softly, on the forehead. I slid down to sit next to him, grasping his hand. He woke and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. We sat there until Melanie woke, looking more rested than she had in months.

"Hey, guys," she said still waking up.

We smiled at her as she woke Jared. He sat up, putting his arm around her, kissing the top of her head. Jamie lay there, still soundly asleep. Ian pulled me tighter to him and I put my legs over his, leaning my head on his shoulder.

"You guys didn't have to stay here," Melanie told us.

"We know, but we wanted to," I said.

"I've been thinking a lot lately about family," Ian began, "I was wondering what constitutes family and who would be mine. Of course, my brother is my family and I love him, no matter how much of an idiot he is, Wanda, because she is the love of my life and my wife, but then I thought about you and Jared. We love you guys. You and Wanda are more sisters than any sisters I've ever met. I would do anything for you guys and I think you would do the same. Jared and I are best friends, especially since we're not fighting over a girl anymore. He has saved my life on more than one occasion. So I came to the conclusion that this, the five people in this room are my family."

Melanie got up from the mattress, even though Jared tried to keep her down, and hugged us both so tightly I thought she would never let go. When she did, I could see the gleam of tears in her eyes.

"I love you guys," she said through her tears, "I'm sorry I'm always crying. I'm just so emotional because of the pregnancy."

We all laughed at this as she walked back over to the mattress with her hand on her growing belly. She dropped down and sat with Jared's arm around her shoulder and his hand on her belly. She was nearing six months pregnant and growing everyday. I had never seen Jared happier, even from Melanie's memories, than he was now. Gone was the constant scowl on his face, replaced by a smile brighter than the stars in the sky. Melanie was tough and he knew that, but he was too protective to let her take care of herself.

"Baby, I'm hungry," she told him.

"Okay, I'll go get you something," he said.

"I want to go to the kitchen. I'm not going to be stuck in here all day. I will go crazy!"

"Okay, but you have to let me carry you." He scooped her up with ease, despite her growing belly. Jamie woke with this movement and followed us out of the room without a word. We walked past our room and Ian pulled me inside. He pushed me up against the stone wall and kissed me.

His hand drifted to make a fist in my hair. I felt the fire where his lips touched mine. He pulled my face an inch away from his, "I love you."

"I love you, too. What's going on," I asked.

"Nothing, I just have been thinking a lot about life lately and I want you to know how much I love you."

"Okay, well I love you, too, but can we go get some food? I'm really hungry."

He laughed and took hold of my hand to lead me out of the room to the kitchen. I hopped on his back so he could run. When we got to the kitchen, we were alone except for Jared, Melanie and Jamie, our family. If everyday was like this one, I would die happy. If I could spend every single day with the people I love, my life would be complete.


	6. Chapter 6

Jared and Ian were about to go on a raid. Mel and I were equally worried, as she was seven months pregnant and getting bigger by the minute. They would be gone for almost a month. Melanie was worried that she might go into labor early and Jared wouldn't be there. I tried to tell her everything would be fine, but as we said goodbye to Jared, Jamie and Ian, she couldn't stop crying.

"Shhh, I'm sorry, baby," Jared said as he stroked Melanie's hair, "I wouldn't go if we weren't almost out of food. They need me. I will be back as soon as I can. You're not going to have to do this alone. You've got Wanda, whose only chore is to take care of you."

"I know, I know," she said through her sobs, "Please come back to me."

He kissed her on the forehead then the lips, gave her one last squeeze and got in the car. Ian hadn't let go of me for a long time.

"Take care of Jared," I told him, "He needs to be back here before the baby comes."

"I will," he said, "I'll try and get home sooner." He tilted his head and kissed me. I felt the tears fall from my eyes, as they did every time he went on a raid. For the next few weeks, my mind won't stop worrying, thinking of the worst-case scenarios. He hugged me once more. When he let go, he got into the passenger seat of the car and didn't look back. They never did. If they did, they knew they wouldn't be able to go.

We watched as the Jeeps left the caves and cried together for a long while before we went back to Melanie's room, where I would be staying until they returned.

* * *

Two weeks had passed since Jared and Ian had left to go on a raid. It was supposed to be short so Jared would be back in time for the baby. I was sitting in Melanie and Jared's room; she was sleeping.

She woke with a start, "Wanda, I think there's something wrong."

"Did your water break," I asked.

"I don't think so, but my stomach really hurts."

"Okay, you might be going into labor. Let's just get through this and I'll go get Doc and some water."

"Wanda, I can't be going into labor, not yet! Jared isn't home!"

"I know, honey, but you might have to. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine the pain is going away."

"Okay so you probably are just having contractions and your water hasn't broken yet, so it's going to be awhile. We can wait until your water breaks to get Doc. Everything is going too be okay. I'm going to go get new sheets for the bed so these don't get ruined. Will you be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be okay."

I went to the kitchen and got her water, then went and got the sheets. On my way back to the room, I saw there was a commotion around the main plaza. I went over to the crowd and saw Jamie. My heart jumped. They were back! I was so surprised. They weren't supposed to be back for at least another week, but never mind, Jared was here for Melanie.

Ian came out from the shadows and I ran and jumped into his arms, wrapping my legs around his waist. I kissed his neck, then his cheek, finally his lips. I held the kiss for a few moments then remembered why I was out here in the first place. I pulled away and told him, "Melanie is going into labor!"

"Jared," he yelled, "get over here! We have to go!"

"What's going on," he asked.

"Mel's in labor," I told him. Before I finished my sentence, he was running toward the room. Ian hadn't let me go and I still had the pitcher of water and sheets in my hands. He ran after Jared, holding me tightly against his body.

We arrived at the cave and Melanie was in the middle of another contraction. Jared was kneeling beside her, gripping her hand and stroking her hair. She was breathing through the contraction, in pain. Finally, her face fell in relief.

"Jared, pick her up so I can change the sheets," I instructed. He did as I said and I swiftly changed the sheets.

"Wanda, I don't want Jamie to be here while all this is going on," she told me.

"I'll make sure he's not here," Ian told her, "he has to unload the cars anyway."

"Thank you."

Jared put her back on the bed. I began to worry, realizing that it was nearly a month before she was supposed to be giving birth. Why was this happening now? I knew everything would be fine. The very fact that Jared and Ian materialized on the very day this was happening made me sure of it.

"I can't believe you're here," Melanie said to Jared, "How did you do it?"

"We skipped a city because it wasn't worth it and we already had enough to last us a couple months, plus I needed to be back here for my baby," he told her. He kissed her forehead and put his hand on her belly. "Everything is going to be okay. Ian can you go get Doc."

Ian nodded and left the room to get Doc. "You are doing so good, baby," Jared encouraged her.

She was breathing rhythmically as she said, "When this gets going, I'm going to start yelling at you. I'm going to say things that I don't mean. Don't hold it against me."

He laughed, "Mel, you have physically hit me on multiple occasions. I think I can handle you yelling and calling me names."

He put his head against hers as they smiled at each other. She grimaced as the next contraction came on. Her knuckles were white as she squeezed Jared's hand. He was unphased, focusing on her face, talking her through it. She motioned for me to take the other hand. I went to her side and gripped her hand. She squeezed my hand so hard I had difficulty staying upright.

Ian and Doc came into the room as the contraction passed. "Alright, Mel," Doc said as he entered the room, "looks like we're having a baby. Has your water broke?"

"No, the contractions are still about 9 minutes apart," she explained.

"Okay, so here's what I need. I need towels, warm water and scissors. Do you want something for the pain once everything really gets going?"

"I think I'll be fine."

"Okay, well I'm going to bring some just in case. Wanda, Ian, can you go get the supplies for me?"

We nodded and were out the door. Ian locked his hand around mine as we walked toward the kitchen. He pulled me tight against his body as we walked. I felt like I wouldn't be able to walk if he didn't let go, but I didn't care.

"You are amazing, do you know that," I said as we crossed the main plaza.

"What are you talking about," he said with a scoff.

"You did it. You got him back here in time for the baby. Granted, it's happening a little sooner than we expected, but still. And just the way you've been with Melanie through all this, you've made me fall in love with you all over again. You are just so good I can't believe you exist in a world like this. You have been through so much that I wouldn't be able to handle and still have the biggest heart."

He squeezed me tighter and leaned down to kiss my head. I wrapped my arms around his waist to feel closer to him. We arrived at the kitchen and began heating up the water. It wouldn't stay warm forever, so we decided to bring a burner to keep it warm. I grabbed a few blankets, in case we needed more than one. Ian brought me scissors and we were on our way back to the room.

As we entered the room, Melanie was just getting over another contraction. We noticed her water had broken and were hopeful this would be moving along now.

"Good, you're back," Doc said as we walked in, "Okay, Mel we're going to start pushing pretty soon, are you sure you don't want anything for the pain because we need to do it now."

"I can do this, Doc," she told him, "I'm fine."

Jared looked worried, "Mel, you're in pain. You should take the No Pain." He stroked her hair and she leaned into his hand. He wiped the sweat from her brow.

"Jared, believe me. I will be fine. We are all going to be fine. This baby and I are going to get through this and live a long, happy life with you. I love you and I need you to help me right now."

He kissed her forehead and nodded, "I love you, baby," he told her, "and I love this baby and I love this family."

A few hours passed before Doc had Melanie start pushing. I was standing at her side, gripping her hand, with Jared on the other side. Ian was next to me, rubbing my back. He gave Melanie a glass of water. With a direction from Doc, Melanie began to push.

"Okay, Mel," Doc began, "I can see the head. I need you to give me two more good pushes."

She gave a push as Jared counted down from ten. One more and the baby would be here. She pushed one last time as Doc pulled the baby out.

Melanie started to cry as Doc said, "Congratulations, it's a girl!"

Jared wrapped his arms around Melanie and looked as if he would never let her go. Doc went to clean the baby up. Ian stood behind me, following the shape of my arms with his hands. We stood there, watching in amazement at these wonderfully strong and resilient people. I was so proud of them in that moment. They beat all odds to create a beautiful family.

They finally pulled apart, looked over at us and opened their arms to welcome us into an embrace. We all sat and hugged until Doc brought the baby back wrapped in a tight swaddle. He handed the baby to Melanie and in that moment I saw my sister become a mother. She looked at that baby like she would never let her go, never let anything hurt her. I saw tears forming in her eyes as the baby looked up at her, remembering her mother. Jared stroked the baby's head ever so gently and kissed her head. He looked at Melanie and kissed her through his tears.

"So, what are you going to name her," Ian asked.

"Well, this is Kai," she began, "Kai Wanderer Howe."

"Wanderer," I asked, "really?"

"Yes, you are the most inspirational person and beautiful soul and we would want nothing more than for our daughter to be just like you. With that said, we also wanted to ask you two a very important question. The world we live in is dangerous and though we are mostly safe now, something could still happen to us. If that were to happen, we would like you two to take care of Kai. Will you be her godparents?"

"Are you kidding," Ian said, "We would love nothing more than to be this little girl's godparents." He was almost giddy. I loved the look in his eyes. He became a new man that day and I could see him as a father. Melanie handed Kai to me and I held this beautiful little miracle in my arms. I turned toward Ian and he stroked her head. He took her from my arms and this image of him holding a baby is one I will never forget. Our family grew that day and would never be the same. We all had one little person that mattered more than anyone, that needed us more than anything.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading and I'm so glad you guys are enjoying the story! Feel free to drop me a review! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Host or any of its characters.**

* * *

"Where are we going," Ian asked as I led him outside the caves.

"I want to show you something," I told him, "I found it while you were gone and I was walking with Melanie."

It had been a month since the baby was born and she was healthy and beautiful, just like her mom. She had the same spunk as Melanie and we all recognized it. The first time she smiled it was because Melanie thumped Jared on the head for saying something she didn't like. She acclimated to all of us very quickly, but we soon discovered that she loved Jared most of all. If he were in the room and not holding her, she would cry and cry until someone finally handed her over. Melanie and I marveled at the change we saw in him. Here was a man who did not want children from the very beginning, but now it was hard to imagine him without Kai in his arms.

Ian and I came over a pass and saw an overhang shielding the ground below it. We climbed down the cliff side and landed on the ground under the overhang.

"Isn't this cool," I began, "It's just like a little cave outside the caves."

Ian sat down dragging me with him. He pulled me in close and kissed me. "Anywhere I'm with you is beautiful, even the desert," he said and kissed me once more. He laid down on the sand and I followed suit resting my head on his chest, wrapping my leg around him. We watched the sun go down and, as it reached the horizon, he was watching me.

I could feel his breath against my hair and wondered what he was thinking. Without having to ask, he answered, "You are going to be a great mother some day. I can already tell with the way you are with Kai and Melanie and even Jamie. He's been like your child since the day you arrived here."

I didn't respond soaking in the sound of his voice. "I want to give you that someday and I want to watch our children grow up with you as a mother."

I did respond now, "What's the rush? I'm only nineteen in this body. We have time."

"Yes, but I'm twenty seven and I want our kids to grow up with Kai."

"Okay, well we don't have to exactly try to have a baby. When it happens, it happens and I will be ecstatic. And the reason you think I will be such a good mother is because I am one. I am one of the few souls that can be a mother."

"But that's different. You don't nurture your children after they're born, you die. I'm just saying that you're a very nurturing person to begin with."

I didn't have the chance to respond as he forced his mouth on mine. I was suddenly lost in the moment. We hadn't been outside in a very long time and I could feel actual wind on my face, until he covered it with his hand. I grabbed a fistful of hair and tugged lightly. He tugged my bottom lip between his and a soft moan escaped my throat. He eased me down on the desert floor and rolled on top of me. His hand drifted to the hem of my shirt. I lifted his shirt to feel his strong back and shoulders. His lips moved to my throat leaving a trail of fire. I couldn't hold the moan in and suddenly, we were lost in the moment in the heat of passion.

* * *

Under a blanket of stars and the desert sky, my eyes were closed as I felt Ian watching me. My head was on his chest and he was stroking my hair. I felt him kiss the top of my head and pull me tighter to his body.

"Wanda, I have to tell you something," he said as I nuzzled my face into his neck. I nibbled and heard him sigh. He pushed me away. "I'm serious."

"Okay, what is it," I asked worried.

"Tomorrow, Jared and I are going on a raid. It won't take long, but we need you to keep Melanie busy so she doesn't find out. We'll be back by dinner and Jared is going to tell her that he has a lot of field work to do and she will be too busy with the baby to even leave the room."

My heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to leap through my throat. Why were they leaving without telling anyone? Why was Jared leaving Melanie with a one-month-old baby?

"Where are you going?"

He hesitated before telling me, "I think I saw my sister the last time we were out. She was in Phoenix, so close and who knows for how long. Wanda, I might be able to get my little sister back."

I sat up, shocked. I knew he had been thinking about his sister a lot since Kai was born, but I had no idea about what he and Jared were planning.

"How long have you been planning this?"

"A few weeks, but we knew Mel wouldn't want Jared to leave so that's why we've kept it from you. I know it's a long shot, but I have to know if I can get my sister back."

"And what happens if we take the soul out and your sister doesn't come back? Will you let it live in her body? I don't think you know how hard this will be if it doesn't work out."

"Baby, I know. I have already been through this, but I need to know if I can have her back."

I wrapped my arms around him and squeezed tight never wanting to let him go. "If you think you can get your sister back, I can't stop you, but you better come back to me. In the wonderful words of the man I love, you are not leaving me."

He laughed and kissed me. "I will never leave you. I made a promise, didn't I?"

We laid back down on the desert sand and stayed there wrapped in each other for a while longer. Then we had to go back so Ian and Jared could leave before Melanie woke up.

I was asleep when I felt Ian get out of bed. I sat up not wanting him to go and grabbed his hand. He tried to break free, but I pulled him into me. Once more he tried to get out of the cave and I pulled him even closer. I kissed him with force and his body took over falling into me. His lips were fire against mine as his hand held my face. Suddenly he pulled away and I had to let him go.

"I have to go," he said, "I love you." He kissed me once more on my forehead. He was out the door before I could even get dressed. I knew I had to be in Melanie's room before she woke up, so I left and ran into Jared on the way there.

"Jared," I greeted, "make sure Ian doesn't get hurt and I will make sure Melanie doesn't realize you're gone." I wasn't playing around. He was going to get my husband home without harm whether or not he got his sister back.

"Wanda, I would never let anything happen to him," he told me. I started to cry. "Hey, don't worry. Everything is going to be okay. We'll be back by tonight and everything will be back to normal."

I was going to worry just like every other time they left the caves, but this was different. I was worried about Ian being hurt both physically and emotionally. What if he couldn't get his sister back? What if he just imagined he saw her and it wasn't really her? Seeing him in pain caused me pain and I didn't want him to hurt anymore. I wanted to wrap him up and hide him away from any and all pain.

Jared hugged me assuring me that Ian would be fine and thanking me for helping with Melanie who was asleep when I entered their room. I sat on the floor against the wall and tried to calm myself. I kept reminding myself how smart both Jared and Ian were and that they wouldn't do anything stupid. Kai woke with a cry and I cradled her to give Melanie more rest. Before long, she was awake.

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_A/N: Hope you enjoyed it! Let me know! Thank you so much for reading. I'm so glad you guys are enjoying the story because I've worked really hard on it. Anyways, until next time!_


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Host or any of its characters.**

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"Hey, Wanda," Melanie said still half asleep. "What are you doing here?"

"Jared is going to be really busy today so he asked me to help you," I lied.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing. Here, I think someone wants you." I handed the baby to her and she fed her. Her face was worried. She didn't talk for a while. When Kai was full, she fell back asleep. Melanie put her back in the crib Jamie made for her. She turned to me wanting answers.

"Seriously, Wanda, what's going on? Where is Jared? Where is Ian for that matter?"

I didn't want to lie to her, but I made a promise. "I honestly don't know. Ian was gone when I woke up so I came here. I assume they're together so I wouldn't worry."

She was too tired to refute my lie. We stayed in the room alternating between napping and taking care of Kai. By the time I had gotten us dinner and we ate, the boys still weren't home. Melanie was beginning to catch on and wasn't accepting my lies anymore. She sat up, worried until I finally told her.

"Jared and Ian went to find Ian's sister," I finally blurted.

"What do you mean they went to find his sister," she asked angrily.

"Ian thinks he saw his sister in Phoenix when they were on a raid. He and his sister were really close and he would do anything to get her back. They promised they would be back by tonight, but they still aren't back and I'm starting to get worried."

"I can't believe Jared would leave me with an infant risking being killed and leaving Kai fatherless."

"I know, that's what I said, but I understand Ian wanting to know if he can have his sister back."

"Okay, fine. I get it, but I'm not happy about it."

There was no possible way we were sleeping, so we sat on the mattress on the floor. We sat and we worried hoping that the men in our lives were okay and coming home to us. Hours passed and we still hadn't seen them. Kai was sleeping soundly as I watched over her.

"They're going to be okay, right," Melanie asked me in the middle of the night.

"Of course, Jared and Ian are smart and strong and they will come back, no matter what," I said trying to convince myself. "They wouldn't do anything stupid. Ian just needs closure about his sister and I want him to have it."

We waited for what seemed like days when we finally decided to leave the room. The kitchen was empty since it was the middle of the day, but we were able to find ourselves some food. Kai was taking one of her many naps for the day, but was in the care of Sharon. As we sat down to eat our food, we could see the worry in each other's faces. I heard footsteps coming from the tunnel leading to the kitchen.

Jared walked through the opening covered in dirt and grime. Melanie jumped into his arms and they kissed just as passionately as I could remember. He carried her away to their room where I was sure she would lecture him after she kissed him and did other things to him for a while. I was waiting for Ian to walk through the opening, but he didn't come. Jared hadn't told me where he was so after a few minutes, I went looking for him.

He wasn't in the main plaza or by the cars. I looked in our room and there was no sign he had been there. Doc's place was empty and I didn't take this as a good sign. I looked throughout the caves and couldn't find him anywhere. I was beginning to worry I wasn't going to find him. Had Jared broken his promise? Was the last time I saw Ian going to be the last time I ever saw him? Had we really had our last kiss?

Finally, I looked by the river in the bathing room. He was in the water with only his underwear on. I could tell he had been crying and didn't want to disturb him, but I had to. I had to know what happened.

I knelt by the water's edge and reached out to touch his shoulder. He turned and swam to the edge where I sat. I leaned down to kiss him and could feel the sadness in his demeanor.

"Hey, baby," I said as he pulled away.

"Hi," he said. I stroked his hair as he washed the dirt and tears from his face. He looked so sad and I was worried he wasn't going to be able to recover. I needed to know what happened.

"Ian, what happened?"

"When we found her, she was with a man and a child. She had a whole family and life out there, but it wasn't her. It was some soul with a soul husband and a human baby. I couldn't bring myself to take her away from the family and life she had made on this planet and we couldn't be sure if my sister would even come back after we took the soul out, so we left her."

"Oh, honey. I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I just wanted my family back, but I'm beginning to realize that my family isn't tied by blood but by the love we all have for each other."

He put his head in my lap and wrapped his arms around my waist. I held him there for a while and felt his tears fall onto my leg. I stroked his hair as he let himself grieve his loss. He finally climbed out of the river and wrapped his arms around my shoulders pulling me tightly to him.

We stayed in the room for what seemed like hours and finally left to go to our room. I told him I would meet him there and got us some food. The kitchen was busy for the dinner rush. People asked how Kai was doing and where Jared and Ian had been. I responded as politely as possible as I hurried to get food.

With food for four, I got some for Jared and Melanie, I went through the tunnels to our room. I placed the food inside Jared and Melanie's door. Then I proceeded to my room. When I stepped inside, I saw Ian sitting on the bed with his guitar. I thought this was a good sign until I heard the song he was playing. It was the song he wrote after his sister had her baby.

"Hey, babe," I said gently as I entered the room.

"Hey," he replied with tears in his eyes.

"Do you want to play me a song?" He nodded and kept strumming. "How about a new song?"

"I want to play you a song that means something. I think I want to start writing again."

"Okay, well what do you have in mind?"

"I don't know, but I want to write about our lives and the way we came to be. Almost a forbidden love and how we have survived against all odds."

"I think that would be a beautiful song, especially if you wrote it."

"I don't want to be sad anymore. I don't have anything to be sad about. I have an amazing life despite the fact that our planet has been taken over. I have the woman I love and great friends and we've made a life down here in this cave. I don't want to live in the past anymore and I think writing a song or even a few songs about it will help me move on."

I walked over to where he was sitting and wiped the tears from his face. With my hand on his neck I kissed his forehead and could feel the tears in my own eyes. He shouldn't be going through this. He shouldn't have to know a life where he is trapped in a cave for the rest of his life with only thirty other humans. He was lucky enough to find someone to spend the rest of his life with, but the whole reason he was in this situation was because of my species.

"Ian, I'm really sorry that you have to deal with this and I hope you know how much I love you for it."

"Wanda, I have never blamed you for what has happened in the past few years. I know where you come from and I accept that and even love that about you. You are the greatest person and soul I have ever met. None of this is your fault and you shouldn't blame yourself for it. I know this is going to normal again, but I need to move past all the pain and suffering to welcome the love and happiness you bring me."

I buried my face into his chest and cried for a while. When my tears dried I looked up into his big, beautiful, blue eyes and saw the hope for a brighter future. I saw the family we would have and our children playing with Kai. He pulled me in kissing me the way he did when he was trying to make me fall in love with him. Back when I was in Melanie's body and couldn't love him. He kissed me with no abandon knowing that he didn't have to make me fall in love with him anymore. He had done it and I never wanted to leave him. He was the one person I couldn't live without and I was ready to show him that.

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_A/N: Sorry if this chapter seemed kind of short! I will update hopefully tomorrow. Thanks, again for reading! Feel free to drop me a review! :)_


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Host or its characters.**

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We laid there in our room, in our home thinking about the life we created together. He held me close to him with his arm around my shoulders. I had my head on his chest moving with the rhythm of his breath.

"What are you thinking about," Ian whispered in my ear.

"I'm just thinking about how much I want to give you a family, how much you deserve a family," I told him.

"I don't deserve or expect anything from you. You know that right?"

"I know. I'm not saying that because it's what you want to hear. I'm saying it because you gave me a life. You brought me back when I was going to die. You have made me human in an alien world. You are the reason I get up in the morning and I would give you anything you ever wanted especially something as simple as a child."

A silence fell over our room as we fell asleep in a warm embrace.

When we woke, Melanie was standing at the edge of our bed. I suddenly realized that I wasn't wearing any clothes and pulled the blanket tight around my chest while Ian stirred and instinctively moved to cover me from Melanie's view.

"Oh come on," she began somewhat teasing us, "Relax, it's just me."

"What do you want Mel," Ian asked annoyed.

"I wanted to know if you guys wanted to go outside the caves with us. We're taking Kai for her first outing and I really need to get out of here. I haven't been outside in months."

"Oh okay. Yeah sure, we'll meet you in the plaza. Now will you please get out?"

With that Mel exited the room and I could feel me face burning. That was ridiculously embarrassing. Ian turned to face me with a slight smile on his face. He pulled me to his chest and kissed my forehead before he got up and got dressed. I told him I would be ready in a few minutes and that I would meet him outside.

Ten minutes later as I walked outside the room, I felt strong arms wrap around he to swing me around. I let out a small screech as I realized that it was just Ian. I felt his lips connect with the back of my neck as he still had his arms wrapped tightly around me and my feet still very far off the ground.

"Ian, put me down," I said through my giggles.

He did as I said, but didn't release me from his embrace and turned me around to face him. He placed butterfly kisses all over my face and finally brought his lips to my own.

"Come on, Mel and Jared are waiting for us." He reluctantly released me and moved his hand to entangle my fingers with his own. We walked toward the plaza to see that Melanie and Jared were standing in the middle of the room with Kai wrapped in a soft pink blanket. We came up behind them and started walking towards the exit from the caves. As we exited the caves, the sun was beginning it's decent to the horizon.

We were standing on the edge of a cliff watching the expanse of the desert turn from a warm gold to a soft amber color. Ian had his arm around my waist and I leaned into his chest. Jared laid out a blanket for us all to sit on and we all did so. I took Kai out of Melanie's arms and watched her as she opened her eyes for the first time since we left the caves. I pressed my lips to the top of her head. I could see Mel start to doze off as the sky turned pink and the sun finished its decent.

Off in the distance, I saw a shinning chrome vehicle racing towards us. It had been so long since I had seen one that I didn't realize it was a seeker. I started to panic. There was no way the seekers could find us, I wouldn't let that happen. I whispered to Ian to take Kai. He took her from my arms and I got up to kneel down to tell Jared what was going on.

"Wanda, take Kai and Mel back to the caves and tell Kyle to grab the guys and meet us out here," he instructed. Melanie and I rushed back into the caves and left Jared and Ian to face the darkening sky and uncertainty.

Melanie and I ran through the caves trying to find Kyle after handing Kai off to Jamie. We finally found him in the kitchen.

"Kyle," I yelled across the room and I could tell he could se the fear in my eyes. He walked over to us and put his hands on my shoulders to try and calm me down.

"Wanda, what's going on,' he sounded panicked, "Where's Jared and Ian?"

I couldn't help it. The tears started falling as I tried to tell him, "We were…outside and…I saw a seeker. They told us to come inside and find you and to tell you to gather the guys and meet them outside."

Without another word, I saw Kyle leave the room and before I knew it he had a group together ready to find Jared and Ian. To my surprise, I had Kai in my arms again as I noticed Jamie was among them. It wasn't my place to tell him he couldn't go. He was old enough to go on raids so why should this be any different. He caught my eye and gave me an encouraging smile. We watched them leave the room as Kyle yelled over his shoulder to go wait in our rooms for them to get back.

We walked slowly, almost ghostlike, to Melanie and Jared's room. I put Kai, sleeping, into her crib and sat down on the bed to put my arm around Mel.

"It's going to be okay, Mel," I began to comfort her, "The guys are smart. They aren't going to do anything stupid. They wouldn't risk putting us in danger and wouldn't do anything to lose us."

It was getting late, but we didn't want to sleep. We tried so hard to stay awake, but when I looked over, Melanie had fallen asleep so I laid her down on the mattress. After checking on Kai, I went next door to my room. I tried to fall asleep and after, what seemed like hours, I felt the darkness consume me.

I was shaken awake by familiar, masculine hands.

"Wanda," it was Ian, "Wanda wake up. Something terrible has happened."

"What, what is it," I asked groggily as I sat up to wrap my arms around his neck. I could feel his cheek was wet with tears and I pulled away slightly to look into his eyes. "Ian, what happened?"

"Jeb is dead."

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_A/N: Thanks for reading! Sorry for the cliffhanger, but everything happens for a reason. Feel free to drop me a review and tell me what you think! Until next time! :)_


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Host or any of its characters.**

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I didn't know what to do. I hadn't even realized that Jeb had gone out there, but it made sense. He was our leader and would protect us even if it meant dying himself and it did. Ian was still crying as I pulled his face into the crook of my neck. I absently stroked his hair. I was so in shock that I didn't even think to cry. He eventually calmed down and pulled away from me. I wasn't even going to ask what happened right now. All I cared about was that he was okay.

He picked himself up off the mattress and I followed him out of the room. He walked down the hall and entered Melanie and Jared's room. They were locked around each other with tears running down their cheeks. We walked over, without them even acknowledging our presence and wrapped our arms around them. We stayed that way for a long time until I heard Kai wake up. I picked her up out of her crib and cradled her against me.

Eventually, we had all cried all of our tears out and sat in silence. I felt like we needed to do something. There had to be something going on outside the walls of this cave. Melanie came over and took Kai from me and handed her to Jared. He looked into her eyes as if he planned on never letting her go.

"I think we should probably go see what's going on," I finally suggested and the rest of my family soundlessly agreed. We walked to the kitchen. I silently entwined my fingers with Ian's and rested my head on his shoulder as we walked. The kitchen was silent except for the occasional, audible sob. Everyone was sitting around the table just staring at their hands. I finally decided that we all needed to know what happened.

"Ian," I whispered, "what happened?"

He stayed silent for a few more moments before pulling me off to the side. I could see Jared doing the same thing with Melanie. Finally, he spoke, "We were charging towards the seeker. There was only one so it shouldn't have been too difficult to take him in, but as we got closer, Jeb ran straight at the motorcycle. I don't know if he thought the seeker would stop or what, but he didn't stop. He swerved, but it was too late. The seeker hit Jeb and flew off his own bike. He flew through the air and eventually landed on a nearby rock. He was dead too. We rushed to Jeb. He was still breathing, but his face was so bloody we knew we had to get him to Doc and fast. When we started to pick him up, he swatted us away. He told us he was ready to die and to just leave him. There was no way we were going to leave, so we sat in a circle around him and watched him take his final breath. He looked so peaceful. Then we decided to just bury him before we went back to the caves, just in case more seekers came looking for the dead one. Jared gave a beautiful speech and we watched as Kyle and Jamie filled his grave."

Tears were falling in a steady stream and I was almost worried that they would never stop. I pulled his head down to my shoulder once more as I rubbed his back reassuringly. I looked over to Melanie who had his hand in Jared's and noticed that he was speaking to the entire room.

"…Jeb was a great man, one of the greatest I've ever known. He died doing what he was so proud doing, protecting all of you, his family. Jeb was our leader and got us through some pretty rough times. He wouldn't have let us let him die out there tonight if he didn't believe that we would make it without him. We will have a memorial service for him tomorrow out on the cliffs since we already buried his body next to the others."

With that he left the room and was followed by Melanie, with Ian and I not far behind. I wasn't quite sure what was going to happen, but I had a feeling that Jared was going to take Jeb's place as our leader. He already led every raid and knew everything there was to now about the caves. He motioned for us to follow him into their room and Ian and I sat against the far wall as Melanie put Kai back I her crib.

Jared finally spoke, "I know this is going to take some time to get over and I'm not saying it won't, but we need to be strong for everyone else. We have grieved and cried as much as our bodies will allow. Jeb told me once that if anything should happen to him, he expected me to take responsibility for the caves and the people in it. We will all get through this together."

I noticed that in the corner of the room was Jeb's gun. I could finally feel a trail of tears stream down my face. I closed my eyes and felt Ian's hand wipe away my tears and rest against my cheek. I leaned into him. For some reason, it felt wrong to go back to our room, so we sat against the wall and gradually we all fell asleep not ready for what the next day would bring.

When I woke, Melanie was gone. I checked on Kai and she was still sleeping so I decided to try and find Melanie. She wasn't that hard to find. She was in the glow room cave that looked like the night sky. I sat down next to her and saw that her eyes were red from tears. I put my arm around her shoulder and she leaned her head onto mine. We sat in silence for a while until she cleared her throat.

"Did you know he taught me how to ride a horse when I was six years old," she asked rhetorically. "And did you know that when I was about to start high school, he told me that any boy that even looked at me funny would have to answer to him? And when the invasion began he left me a ring and said that if I wore that ring, I would be able to find him. And when I was scared, he would tell me everything was going to be okay because he loved me. He was like my dad and now he's just gone like my real dad. He won't get to see Kai grow up and he won't get to meet your kids. He loved us all so much and now he's just gone."

She started crying again and we held each other. Some time later, Jared walked in and picked her up to carry her back to her room. It had always amazed me how they didn't need words. He could almost sense that she was hurting and he was the only thing that would fix her.

I followed them back through the caves but ended up back in my own room so I could get ready for the memorial. Ian was sitting on the bed with his guitar in his hands. He wasn't playing and he looked almost as if he had forgotten how to. I sat down next to him and he turned his head to look into my eyes.

"Jeb gave me this guitar," he began and I nodded encouraging him to continue. "It was just after he found Kyle and I. He caught me looking at it in the kitchen one day and told me I could have it. I told him I didn't play anymore and that he could keep it and I didn't want it. That night, it was just sitting in the corner of my room and it sat there for almost three years before I actually picked it up and played it."

"We all have things Jeb gave us," I said, "Hell, he was the one who let me stay here when everyone else wanted me gone. I'm alive because he brought me back here, but he wouldn't want us to dwell on everything he did for us. He did all those things so we could survive and if we don't try and do exactly that, then we will have failed him."

"I want to be done crying. After today and the memorial, I will be done crying. It doesn't get me anywhere."

"I don't think you will, Ian. You love too much to not cry. The moment you lay eyes on your child you will fall so deeply in love that crying will be the only thing you can do. Sometimes tears express what we can't say in words. When I see tears running down your face, in sadness or in happiness, I don't think you're weak, I think you are the strongest person I've ever met."

He kissed my forehead for the first time since he told me Jeb was dead and looked into my eyes.

"I love you so much."

I could see the tears begin to form in his eyes and felt the tears form in my own. Now wasn't the time to tell him. I would tell him after the memorial.

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_**A/N: Well that's a cliffhanger! What could she need to tell him? Tune in Wednesday to find out! Drop a review and tell me what you thought. Until next time! :)**_

_**P.S. If you like to listen to music while reading, I would listen to "Fix You" by Coldplay during this chapter. Just a thought! :)**_


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Host or any of its characters.**

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The sun was setting as Jared stood over Jeb's grave, reading from the same Bible Jeb had read from at my wedding. Each grave was marked with a different rock, except for Jeb's. After Jared was done reading, he pulled Jeb's gun from behind his back and stuck the barrel in the sand to mark his grave. I couldn't help but wonder if someone had another, just in case.

"From the moment I met Jeb, he had been like a father to me. He had been like a father to most of us when our real ones were nowhere to be found. I had lost all hope after Melanie disappeared and even after Wanda brought her back. I remember Jeb telling me the day she came back that Mel was still in there somewhere, that I just had to believe hard enough and together we could get her back. He gave us all a little hope when there seemed to be none left and under his leadership, we survived."

Melanie stood beside him as he spoke and her final tears fell. We all took a moment of silence, standing over his grave as the final pinks and oranges in the sky turned to a dark blue.

Jared led us back to the caves and we adjourned in the kitchen for a meal. As we sat down to eat, Ian remained standing and raised his glass.

"Now is not the time to mourn," he began, "we have mourned Jeb and the loss his death is to our community, but we must celebrate the life he did have and not just remember the one moment in which he was taken from us. Jeb would not want us to feel sad or hurt. He would want us all to get drunk and tell stories about him and remember him alive and not a body in the ground." He raised his glass, "So that is what we are going to do. I would like to purpose a toast to Jeb. He was a hell of a man and, when he wanted to be, scary as hell. I would like to thank him for always putting us first and always being there for us. To Jeb."

Everyone simultaneously raised their glasses and drank.

For the rest of the night, everyone went around telling their favorite story of Jeb. Jared told everyone of his first day in the caves when he told Jeb he was Melanie's boyfriend and Jeb almost shot him right then and there. Ian told of when he asked Jeb's permission to marry me because he was the closest thing I had to a father and he told Ian that he would kill him if he ever hurt me. I told the story of when I first woke up in this body and Jeb told me to follow my heart, whether it kept me here with them or led me back to the souls.

Finally, Mel told the story of when she told him she was pregnant. It was the first and only time she had ever seen him cry. He told her that her parents would have been so proud of her and that he was proud of her. He held her for a long time until he finally patted her on the back and walked away. He said more in that pat on the back than he could ever express in words.

It had to have been well past midnight when Jared told everyone to go to bed because we had a lot to figure out in the morning. I had already drifted off with my head on Ian's shoulder when he scooped me up into his arms and carried me home.

He set me down on the mattress and I could feel my eyes getting heavier. I knew there was something I needed to tell him, but I didn't know if there was a right time to. I forced my eyes open and sat up in bed. He was in the corner, holding his guitar. I could see a glimmer of hope in his eyes for the first time in two days. I knew it was now or never.

"Ian," I said as I walked over to sit next to him. He sat his guitar upright against the wall and pulled me into his lap simultaneously kissing my cheek.

"What is it, my Wanderer," he asked. I took a breath to pause and gain courage.

"Well I need to tell you something. I almost feel guilty because, even with everything that has happened in the last couple of days, I can't help but feel excited and happy."

He looked at me with a confused look in his eye and I realized that I was explaining this out of order. I needed to get to the point and fast.

"I think I might be pregnant." His eyes lit up as he kissed me gently on the mouth, then kissed every inch of my face and finally buried his face into the crook of my neck. "It's not for sure yet. I haven't gone to Doc, but I just have this feeling that I am and I wanted to tell you before I went to Doc because I don't want to go alone. I just don't want you to get your hopes up in case I'm not pregnant."

He pulled away and looked into my eyes, which had tears streaming from them. He could tell I was worried that if I weren't really pregnant he would be upset. He ran his hand up and down my back trying to soothe me.

"I don't care. All I care about is that you are okay and if you happen to be pregnant, I will just be happier." He pressed his lips to mine. "I do think we should go see Doc first thing in the morning though."

"What about Jared? He's going to need you tomorrow to help figure out everything that needs to be done."

"He'll understand." I tensed suddenly, not wanting Jared and Melanie to know that I might be pregnant. He spoke before I could, "Don't worry, I won't tell him what's going on. I'll just tell him Doc wanted to make sure all my injuries have healed completely from the accident."

I nodded and leaned my head against his shoulder. I was suddenly exhausted. My breathing became shallow as my eyes became heavy and Ian took me over to the mattress and laid me down. I could feel him snuggle up against me and his arms wrap around my waist to place a hand on my belly.

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_A/N: Thanks for reading! You know the drill. Leave me a review if you'd like. Until next time! :)_


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Host or any of it's characters.**

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I woke up feeling cold and noticed Ian wasn't beside me. He was sitting on the chair next to the bed watching me sleep.

"You know, if I didn't love you, I would think that you watching me sleep was a little creepy," I teased.

"Very funny," he said with a hint of sarcasm, "How are you feeling? Are you ready to go see Doc?"

"You realize I literally woke up thirty seconds ago right? Give me a few minutes and then we can go." He nodded then rushed towards me and scooped me up into his arms. I couldn't help but laugh as he tickled my side. "Ian! Ian, stop!"

He put me down and kissed my temple. "Get ready. I'll go tell Jared we're going to see Doc and not to wait for me."

He left the room and I was feeling curious. There was a notebook on the chair that I hadn't seen before so I decided to take a peek. I flipped through the pages and noticed that it was filled with lyrics. Every song had a date at the top of the page that indicated when he began writing the song and a date for when he finished it. The first song he began writing ten years ago when he was seventeen. It was the song about his sister. The last song in the book was a song that I noticed he began writing this morning. The title at the top of the page was "This Lullaby." I started crying.

What if I wasn't pregnant? What would that do to him? We really needed some good news after the past few months we had had. I shut the notebook and put it back where I found it. I got dressed and waited for Ian to return, which he did about ten minutes later.

"Okay, let's go," he said, "Melanie and Jared think we're going to Doc for a check up. They won't bother us until we go and find them."

He took my hand into his and led me down the halls to find Doc's place. Doc was sitting at a desk looking at what seemed to be a photograph. I looked over his shoulder and noticed it was a picture of him and Jeb. They looked young; free of gray hair and wrinkles. They were leaning up against a car that looked like an antique. Ian cleared his throat and Doc turned with a start.

"Oh, Wanda, Ian," he said, "you scared me. What can I do for you?"

After a moment of silence I said, "I think I might be pregnant."

"Okay, lets get you a test then. I'm also going to run a couple other tests to make sure everything is okay, but I don't have the technology to show you the baby, should you be pregnant. Go ahead and sit up on the bed."

I did as he told me and he ran the tests. He told me it would take a couple hours to get the results of all of the tests so Ian and I told him we would be back. We went to the kitchen, which was empty because it was the middle of the morning and everyone was busy doing other chores. We had a small meal and went back to our room where Ian played me a few songs and we became anxious. We decided to go back to Doc's place and see if he had the results.

"I think you should both sit down," he said with the slightest bit of pity in his voice. My heart contracted as I feared the worst.

"First of all," he began, "you're not pregnant." I felt my shoulders slump and tears threaten to make an appearance. Ian's hand squeezed mine to reassure me.

"Is there more," Ian asked because I couldn't seem to form words.

"According to the tests I ran, it might be really difficult to get pregnant. It might not happen at all. I don't want you to take this as me saying you'll never have children, but I just want you to be prepared if it doesn't happen. I'm really sorry, guys. I'll go ahead and leave you alone."

He left and there was no holding back the tears that fell from my eyes. I buried my face into Ian's chest and sobbed uncontrollably. I could hear him reassuring me and felt his hands rubbing my back trying to calm me down. The one thing I wanted to give Ian in the world and I might not be able to. How could this be possible? How could a healthy, eighteen year old body not be able to have children?

After what felt like hours, I pulled away from Ian to see a dried trail of tears on his cheek. I hadn't even noticed he was crying.

"I'm sorry," I told him.

"You don't have anything to be sorry for," he began, "You can't control this and, like Doc said, he doesn't have the best technology down here. Maybe he's wrong. We can get a second opinion."

"How do you think we could get a second opinion, Ian? You know how dangerous it is to leave the caves."

"Wanda, you are a soul and can blend in with the outside world. It wouldn't be that difficult."

"No. I don't want to risk it. I might not be in danger, but you would be and I'm not risking losing you again."

"I understand what you're saying, but I also know that being a mother is in your DNA and you need to be one. If going to a Healer means we can give you that, then I will put my life in danger a million times over."

"You're not making any sense. You realize that if something happens to you, I will never be a mother. The only way I'm having children is if I have them with you."

"Wanda, nothing is going to happen to me. I've been outside these caves thousands of times and know what I'm doing. Please let me do this for you."

I thought about what he was saying for a while and realized he was right. This wasn't just for me though. I wasn't doing this for me, but for him.

"Fine," I finally said.

He pulled me against him with his arms wrapped around my shoulders.

"Okay, we'll leave tonight."

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_A/N: Thanks for reading! :)_


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Host or any of its characters. **

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I stayed in our room for the rest of the day because I didn't think I would be able to face Melanie and Kai without breaking down. Ian helped Jared plan out the next raid and assign everyone their new chores to accommodate for Jeb's loss. He brought me dinner and told me the Jeep was ready to go and we would leave after everyone went to bed.

The plan was to leave in the middle of the night to get to the Healers first thing in the morning. By the time anyone noticed we were gone, we would be on our way back. After dinner, Ian came and sat with me while we waited for the remaining few to head to their respective rooms. He finally declared to coast clear and we headed for the Jeep.

It would take four hours to get to Phoenix and it was one in the morning. I couldn't help but doze off with the constant rocking of the Jeep and Ian humming softly a melody that I didn't recognize like he was trying to write a song.

I was soon jostled awake by a large hand on my shoulder and Ian told me we were there.

"Are you ready," he asked.

"Yes, I just wish you could go in with me," I told him. "Make sure you stay down and don't draw too much attention to yourself. Don't take your sunglasses off either." He laughed.

"Wanda, I have done this plenty of times. I know what to do. Just hurry and come back to me as soon as you can." He pressed a sweet kiss to my lips and stroked my cheek leaving his hand there when he pulled away.

I got out of the car and walked right through the front door. The receptionist looked up from her computer and addressed me.

"Good morning, dear," she began, "how can I help you?"

I hadn't actually thought of what I was going to say to them when I got there and blurted out a response.

"I need to take a pregnancy test!"

"Oh, dear. Okay, let me just go get Healer Skye." She left the desk and returned with a middle-aged woman who took me into an exam room.

"Okay, so I am going to just use this scanner to see if there is a fetus," Healer Skye told me. She waved a wand-like thing over my stomach and grimaced. "There doesn't seem to be a child. Have you been trying to conceive for long?"

"My hus…partner and I have been trying for almost a year," I lied.

"Okay, so what I'm going to do is give you a fertility lozenge that you take orally. This should help you conceive within the next few months. If it doesn't work, come back and we can try an alternate route." She handed me a bottle full of the lozenges. "Take one once a day until they are gone or until you conceive."

"Thank you Healer Skye." With that I left the exam room and headed back towards the car. The receptionist tried to have me schedule another appointment, but I just ignored her. Ian was laying down in the back seat of the car and I tapped the window. He climbed into the front seat and started the car.

"What did they say," he asked.

"I'll tell you while we're driving," I told him, "Let's just get out of here. People are starting to crowd the streets." I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek and he began to drive.

Two hours later, I had Ian's hand on my lap tracing patterns on his palm. We had been almost silent since we left the Healers. He turned his head glancing between me and the road. He finally broke the silence.

"Baby, what happened at the Healers," he asked.

"She checked to see if I was pregnant," I began. "Then she asked how long we had been trying to conceive. I told her a year and she gave me fertility lozenges that will help me conceive within the next few months."

"I told you they would have something that would help."

"I don't know if I want to take them, Ian."

He looked confused. "I thought that was the whole point of going to the Healer; to find some way to help us have a baby."

"I know, but it's just so unnatural. Do you really want to find out we're pregnant because of one of their drugs."

"I don't care how it happens as long as does, Wanda." He was starting to get angry. I hadn't seen him angry since I told him I was leaving the caves in order to bring Melanie back. He let go of my hand and faced the road.

"I'll think about it, okay?" I leaned over and kissed his temple. He gave me his hand back and leaned over to give me a gentle kiss. We he returned to his driving position, he glanced in the rearview mirror and a look of panic swept across his face.

"Ian. Ian, what's wrong," I asked.

"We're in the middle of the desert," he said, "There shouldn't be another soul for miles."

My grasp on his hand tightened as he applied more pressure to the gas pedal. The car behind us was getting closer and suddenly Ian slammed on the brakes. He spun the car around to face the foreign car.

"Stay here," he instructed.

He got out of the car and waited for the other car to stop and for the person inside it to confront him. There was a woman in the car and she stepped out onto the desert sand. I looked at her eyes and noticed that she was, in fact, a soul. I could feel my heartbeat speed up. I tried to hear what they were saying as Ian broke the silence.

"Jess," he asked.

"Well actually, my name is Daisy," she replied. "I most closely resembled a daisy on my last planet."

"Why are you following us?"

"My partner died and left to go to another planet. I was so distraught. I had never felt sadness before and I didn't now what to do. I have a child here on this planet that I have fallen in love with and I don't want to leave, but I feel as if I must follow my partner to the next planet. I started digging into my Host's memories and saw you. I saw you and your brother and I saw Jess loose a child. I heard the song you wrote for her and I realized something. There is some way I could leave this planet and not abandon my son. I knew I had to find you and when I saw you leaving the Healers today, I knew I had to follow you."

"So what are you saying? You want me to take care of your child?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. I know that eventually he's going to realize that he's different and the souls will want to use him as a Host. I can't let that happen."

There was a pause until he said, "I'll do it, but under one condition. We have a way to extract a soul without killing the Host body and sometimes the Host is able to recover. If you can still tap into Jess' memories, it could still work and we can send you to whatever planet your husband went to."

"Deal. Do you want to meet your nephew?"

He nodded and she brought a toddler out from the backseat of the car.

"This is Will." Ian took the child from her arms and lifted him above his head. Will laughed and kicked his legs as Ian tossed him up in the air. He kissed the child on the cheek and brought him to the Jeep. They put Will in the back seat of the car and Daisy sat next to him.

"Daisy, this is my wife, Wanda," he introduced me. I saw her eyes light up as she noticed my eyes.

"Actually, it's Wanderer," I corrected.

"Wanderer," she asked, "as in the soul who has lived seven lives, not including this one?"

"Yes, that's me. I finally settled on a planet."

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_A/N: Thanks for reading! Until next time! :)_


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Host or any of its characters.**

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Two hours later, we were walking through the halls to Doc's place. Ian was carrying Will and was hiding Daisy behind him. We passed Melanie and she immediately pounced.

"Where the hell have you guys been," she yelled across the room, "and who the hell is this?" She was pointing at Will. I just pulled her along with us as we continued toward Doc's place. After twenty minutes of wandering through the halls, we came upon Doc.

"Hey, guys," he greeted, "What's going on?"

"This is my sister, Jess," he began, "or she was my sister. This is Daisy. She wants to be extracted so she can follow her partner to the next planet and this is her son, my nephew, Will. She wants to leave him here with us so he can grow up as a human."

Doc led her over to one of the beds and told her what was going to happen and asked where she wanted to be sent. I took the opportunity to pull Ian aside.

"Ian, honey," I said, "you know that there is a chance that she won't wake up after we take Daisy out, right?"

"I know, but we have to try," he replied. "I didn't give up on you and I'm not giving up on my sister. Kyle and I could get at least part of our family back and now we have this child to take care of. Daisy is right. Even if Jess doesn't wake up, we have to take care of Will and make sure he isn't used as a Host."

I buried my face into his chest. I knew I couldn't talk him out of this and I wanted him to have his family back. Doc finally called us over and asked if I could extract Daisy after she went under. She had told him she wanted me to do it. Ian sat in the corner with Will on his lap and at some point Melanie had gone to get Jared who had Kai in his arms. They stood silently on either side of Ian as if they were trying to protect him from something. I don't know how Kyle knew to be there, but within a few minutes, he was standing beside Melanie with tears in his eyes. Ian had explained briefly what happened. I took in the scene in the corner hoping desperately that she would wake up so these boys wouldn't have to face another tragedy in their lives.

After about ten minutes, Doc told me it was time to extract Daisy. He made an incision along the base of her neck and motioned me forward. I whispered to the soul and coaxed it out of Jess' body. A few minutes later, I had Daisy in my hands and Kyle was suddenly standing next to me with an open canister. I sent Daisy into the canister and closed it before she could escape and die.

"I'll take her to a send off site," Kyle said, "Doc told me where to send her." I nodded as he left the room.

Doc gave Jess' body the necessary medicines and took her vitals. "The body appears to be fully in tact," he started to explain, "but, seeing as Jess was a Host for a few years, it might take her some time to come back to us."

We all nodded silently as Ian came to the side of the bed and set Will down on it. He took Jess' hand in his own and started talking through his tears.

"Hey, little sis. I know it's been a while since seen we've seen each other, but I really need you to come back to us. Will really needs his mom. You don't have to worry about anything down here. We take care of each other and are a family. I want you to meet someone." He looked at me through tear-filled eyes. "This is my wife Wanda."

"Hi, Jess," I said to the still body, "We all really want to meet you. I love your brother more than life itself and I know he wants you back more than anything."

"And this is Jared and Melanie," he continued.

Jared and Melanie whispered "Hello"s and placed their hands on her shoulder. I put my hand on Ian's, which hand a firm grasp on Jess' hand. Will was playing with his mother's hair whispering, "Mama."

Hearing this, Ian broke down into heavy sobs. I turned him so I could cradle his head and motioned for Jared and Melanie to take Will with them. I led Ian to a wall and slid down to sit on the floor. He sobbed into my chest and wrapped his arms around my waist. I rocked him back and forth with my hands rubbing soft circles into his back. I knew what Will reminded him of and I knew how scared he was of losing her. It is much harder to loose a person the second time. To know that you can have them back and loose them again is the worst thing in the world.

Gradually, his tears stopped and he lifted his head to say, "Maybe we made a mistake."

"You can't think like that, baby," I told him. "Did you think it was a mistake when you put me in this body? I told you that I wanted to die, but you didn't listen to me. You didn't give up on me. You didn't know how I was going to react when I woke up, but you did it anyways because you loved me and didn't want to let me go. This isn't a mistake. No matter what happens, you will know that you tried everything in your power to bring her back and Will will have a family. He will have two uncles to look up to and people who care about him."

He pulled me into a tight embrace and I suggested that we go to bed. Doc would tell us when she woke up. We stood up and walked past Jess' body and Ian pressed his lips against her forehead and ruffled her hair. Sooner or later, Ian would have the family he so desperately wanted, whether it was a child or his sister.

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_A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope you are all enjoying the story. Please feel free to leave me a review. I will probably update within the next couple of days. Until next time! :)_


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Host or any of its characters.**

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Two months later, Jess still hadn't woken up. Jared and Ian were able to get some machines on one of their raids to be able to feed her, but Doc said that they would only give her nourishment and not increase the chances of her waking up. Ian and Kyle sat by her bed every day just hoping and praying that this would be the day she would wake up. I would take Will to see his mother so he wouldn't forget her, but somewhere along the way, I fell in love with this little boy. Call it my maternal instincts or whatever you want, but I was beginning to think that this child was my own.

I knew it was a dangerous game to play. Jess could wake up any day and take him away from me, but as the days went by and Jess still didn't wake up, I let myself be selfish with him. I hadn't even thought of taking the fertility lozenges since we returned from our little trip and Ian hadn't mentioned it. There was too much on his mind and I was beginning to think that, as long as he got his sister back, he didn't care.

We were sitting by Jess' bed before we headed to our room for bed one night and Will was sitting next to his mom like he had for the past two months. We told Jess about our day and how much we wanted her to come back to us. Ian hand his hand in mine as he watched his nephew. The first time Will said Ian's name had been one of the happiest days of his life, I could tell.

Will looked over to us and pointed at me and said, "Mama."

"Oh, no," I said as tears stung the backs of my eyes, "No, I'm not your mama. I'm Wanda. Can you say Wanda?"

"Mama."

I could feel Ian's heart break. He wanted me to be a mom so bad, but Will calling me 'Mama' made him worry that Jess really would never wake up. That is until Will turned back to Jess and said, "Mama, mama, mama."

A hand came up and felt his face. Will wrapped his arms around her neck and squeezed tight. He wasn't calling me 'Mama,' he was waking her up.

"Oh, my sweet baby Will," she said as tears began to roll down her face. We were frozen. It had been two months and we had all but lost hope.

"Wanda, go get Kyle," Ian instructed me. I left him as he embraced his sister.

I found Kyle in the fields and ran to wrap my arms around his neck.

"Kyle. Kyle, your sister, she's awake!" He broke out into a run and I followed him to Doc's. When I entered the room, all three of them were already wrapped around each other and sobbing uncontrollably. Will was jumping up and down yelling, "Mama! Mama! Mama!"

My heart broke as I watched the little boy I had taken care of for the past two weeks slip from my fingers. I walked to the side of the bed as they finally peeled away from each other.

"So, I guess you're Wanda," Jess said. Ian looked confused.

"You could hear us," he asked.

"Yes, I could hear everything. My mind just needed to catch up with my body before I could function correctly. How can I ever thank you guys for bringing me back?"

"Don't thank us," I said, "Thank Daisy. She's the one who sought after Ian and agreed for us to bring her here. She saved your life."

"I guess not all souls are bad then," she said giving me a wink as she noticed my eyes.

After about an hour of catching up and telling Jess our story, I told Ian it was getting late and I was going to bed. He said he would be in later, so I left him with his brother and sister.

I couldn't sleep. I just laid there hoping that exhaustion would overtake me and I wouldn't have to try, but it never did. It had to have been at least one o'clock in the morning and Ian still hadn't come to bed. I didn't blame him. This was a big day and he hadn't talked to his sister in over five years. Of course they would stay up all night talking and reminiscing.

My mind went to Will. What if he had been our only chance at having a child? What if Ian didn't want to be the father of my child anymore? My mind ran rampant and I could feel tears in my eyes. I don't know what time it was, but Melanie entered my room at some point and sat next to me.

"I lost him, Mel," I said without explanation. She knew what I was talking about.

"He was never yours, Wanda," she said without malice. "She was always going to wake up and take him back. Now you can start your own family with Ian." I looked up at her and dreaded telling her what I had known for months.

"I might not be able to have children." She pulled me into her arms.

"How do you know?"

"I thought I was pregnant a few months ago, so I went to Doc. Not only did he tell me I wasn't pregnant, but that I might not be able to have children. That's why we left the caves. We were going to a Healer and she gave me these fertility drugs. That's when Daisy found us and we haven't even talked about trying to have a baby since. The lozenges are just in the desk drawer and I haven't even thought of taking them. I didn't even know if I wanted to take them. I told Ian I would think about it, but now I don't even know if he wants to have kids with me anymore."

"Wanda, are you kidding me? Ian has wanted to have babies with you since before you were you. He loves you more than anything on this earth and wants you to be a mother even more than that. Just because you've hit a little obstacle doesn't mean your whole lives are going to change. Sure, Ian has his sister back, but that's a good thing. You've seen the way he is with Kai and Will. There is no way in hell that Ian doesn't want a child of his own. Just talk him."

I drifted to sleep with my head on Melanie's shoulder. At some point Jared came in to take her away and replace her with Ian. I could sense that he was happy. I could feel him smile in my sleep and for the first time in months, I dreamt of a family.

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_A/N: Thanks for reading! I think we're getting pretty close to the end. I have a few more chapters ready and want to write a few more before I write an epilogue. Thank you to everyone who has read my story and I hope you're all enjoying it so far. I think I'm actually going to post another chapter later on today so until next time! :)_


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Host or any of its characters.**

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For the first time in two months, when I woke up, Ian was there. He had one arm wrapped sound my shoulder and the other hand was holding mine. I looked up into his eyes and smiled. It had been a long time since the bed was warm when I woke up and I wanted to savor it. He gave me a look that only Ian could give me, that let me know everything was going to be okay and that he loved me. No matter how much I was dreading this conversation, it needed to be had and soon.

"Good morning my Wanderer," he said, his voice raspy with sleep.

"Ian, we need to talk," I said matter-of-factly. He sat up pulling me with him, with a nervous look on his face. I took a deep breath and continued. "You know how much I love Will. I really have fallen in love with him over the past two months and when I thought he was calling me 'mama,' yesterday I realized how much I want a child and for a split second I thought he could be mine. I know that's crazy and selfish, but it happened and I want you to know that I will do anything to have a child with you. Whether that means taking the fertility drugs or adopting, I don't care. I just want you to be a father and I want to be a mother and I want to be a family…"

He cut me off and pressed his lips against mine. I felt the kiss deepen and he rolled on top of me. My hands were in his hair and his were all over my body. I cleared my mind momentarily and pulled back.

"Wait, I need to take the drugs," I said.

He pushed me back down and said, "We don't need them."

* * *

"I love you," Ian whispered as he pressed his lips to the top of my head. I smiled against his chest and couldn't help but giggle. He was playing with my fingers and brought them to his lips. I looked over to the chair that sat next to the wall and his guitar and noticed the notebook with the songs he had written.

"Ian, I have something to confess," I said nervously. He brushed the hair back from my face and pressed his lips to my forehead. I took that as a cue to go on. "A couple of months ago, I went through your notebook. I noticed the last song was called 'This Lullaby.' Did you ever finish it?"

"No, I haven't even looked at my guitar since we got back," he said.

"I want you to finish it. I want you to play again. You're always so happy when you're playing and I don't see any reason for you to not be happy."

"You see, that's where you're wrong. I'm happiest when I'm with you." I tilted my head up to meet his lips with mine. Before it could go any further, I pulled away.

"We're not doing that again until you play for me." He groaned in mock frustration and got up to get his guitar.

Instead of sitting in the corner, he brought the guitar over to the mattress and sat down. I scooched up behind him and wrapped my arms around his neck and rested my head on his shoulder watching his fingers work the chords. He plucked random chords before deciding on a tune. He began to sing and I could recognize the lyrics from one of the songs in his notebook. It was a recent song he had written after our wedding. I realized it was about me. It was about hope and tomorrow, always believing that love will be the one thing that saves you.

When the song was over, I kissed his neck and he turned to kiss me. "I love you so much," I whispered in his ear. "Do you really think we can have a baby the normal way, without any drugs?"

"If there are only two things I know in this world, they are that we can have a baby and that I love you. We have overcome every odd that has been thrown at us. We've survived car crashes and extractions and everything in between. No matter what happens, I love you and that will never change."

He cupped my face in his hand and kissed me the way only Ian could. He started to lean us back onto the mattress when Jared walked in and yelled.

"Oh, God, sorry," he said stifling a laugh.

"What the hell do you want Jared," Ian asked frustrated.

"Your sister is asking for you man and we have stuff to do, like figure out where she's going to stay and what chores to give her."

"Okay, fine. I'll be there in a minute." Jared left and Ian turned back to me laughed against my lips. "I guess the real world is still out there. We better get out of bed before he sends Mel in here. She won't be as polite."

We laid there for a few more minutes before I finally let him get out of bed. We got dressed and walked hand in hand to Doc's to see Jess.

Jess was sitting up on her bed hold Will above her head. He was laughing and noticed when we walked in and yelled, "Ian!"

Ian let go of my hand when he heard his nephew's voice and took him from his sister. She watched as Ian made Will fly around the room like an airplane. I sat next to her bed and smiled. When I looked at Ian with Will I didn't I could see him doing the same thing with our own child. Suddenly, I wasn't afraid that I wouldn't get pregnant and had faith in our ability to overcome the odds. My thoughts were interrupted when Jess spoke.

"You know, you could have that too," she said to me.

"I know," I told her. "We're trying." She reached over to hold my hand and gave me a shy smile. "Jess, can I ask you something?" She nodded. "You didn't know Daisy's partner before you were her Host and yet you're able to love Will more than anything in the world, but how?"

"I know our situation is a little weird, but what isn't these days? I was there in the back of Daisy's mind every step of the way. Through the pregnancy and birth and birthdays. In every way, Will is really my child and I love him. I may not love his father, but that means nothing."

I nodded as Ian came to sit beside me and handed me Will. I looked into his big blue eyes and he said my name for the first time. I clutched him to my chest and Ian wrapped his arms around both of us. When we pulled apart, Jess was looking at us with a loving look in her eye.

"So, I wanted to thank you guys for taking care of Will while I was out," Jess began, "I'm so glad he's gotten to know his aunt and uncle, so there's something I want to ask you. If anything were to happen to me, I need to know that Will would be taken care of. You two have already done that. Will you be Will's godparents?"

"Of course, Jess," I said as I pulled her in for a hug. We became friends in that moment and not just sisters-in-law. Will crawled back into his mother's lap. She kissed the top of his head.

I was suddenly feeling light-headed. I grabbed onto the sleeve of Ian's shirt and heard him yell my name. My breathing became quick and shallow. I could feel myself falling and Ian's arms wrap around me to pick me up. My vision was blurred as Doc stood over me trying to snap me out of whatever was happening. Ian's hand was on my shoulder and I was going in and out of consciousness. I could hear Ian asking Doc what was going on. I saw Melanie and Jared walk in and stand over me. Melanie was yelling my name as Jared tried to calm her down. Then suddenly everything went black as I slipped into the darkness.

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A/N: Again thanks for reading! I hope you are all enjoying the story and continue to. Until next time! :)


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